


Second Eldest, First to Rise

by brilliantsnafu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alcohol, Aromantic, Aromantic Asexual Charlie Weasley, Aromantic Charlie Weasley, Aromanticism, Asexual Character, Asexual Charlie Weasley, Asexuality, Family Drama, Gen, Happy Ending, Overbearing Molly Weasley, Parent-Child Relationship, Swearing, Tumblr: aroacehogwarts, Understanding, amatonormatvity, just a little thing not at all based on the author's imaginary convos with their own mom, marriage and parenthood are not the only roads to happiness, molly will soon learn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25529767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brilliantsnafu/pseuds/brilliantsnafu
Summary: Charlie has been dodging his mother's comments, questions, even jabs about marriage and children for years. Not anymore.
Relationships: Charlie Weasley & Molly Weasley
Kudos: 88





	Second Eldest, First to Rise

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [aroacehogwarts](https://aroacehogwarts.tumblr.com) on [June 21, 2020](https://aroacehogwarts.tumblr.com/post/621566961002971136/hellsite-ruined-the-ask-but-this-fic-is-in).
> 
> Prompt from tumblr user callonpeevesie: "Do you have any headcanons about aroace Charlie convincing Molly he doesn’t want to get married and have kids?"

“Mum, you have plenty of kids who not only will but want to give you grandchildren!”

 _You’re being completely ridiculous_ , the renowned dragonologist added silently.

“And?” Molly Weasley’s cheeks were flushed from her third Paulopabita’s Fishy Green Ale. Charlie Weasley, the renowned dragonologist in question, rubbed the tips of his fingers along the rough paper label of his own bottle. He looked around the Burrow at his siblings and friends, but no one was paying enough attention to this unremarkable corner of the room to see that he needed an assist..

“You already have two lovely granddaughters,” he hedged. “One is literally named after you!”

“So?” She said. Charlie’s brow furrowed. When he didn’t answer his mother, she repeated herself. Louder. As if he wasn’t answering because the radio tunes and surrounding chatter were just too loud.

“So!?”

 _Are you fucking kidding me!?_ Charlie replied in his head (and unfortunately in his eyes, which he knew because he recognized the microscopic downturn of his mother’s mouth). He took a breath to steady himself.

“So,” Charlie said, meeting her eye. “You don’t need me for grandchildren.”

“That is _not_ the point. That has never been the point, Charles Fabian Weasley,” Molly said. Then she downed the last of her Fishy Green Ale. Her second eldest gaped, but he quickly found his voice.

“If not that, then… Then what is??!” He said, as exasperated as he had ever been at every family dinner, every wedding, every holiday, every surprise visit to Romania since his graduation. He wanted to scream but swallowed it until his words came out at indoor volume. They came out no less angry though.

“What do you want from me, Mum? What do you want??”

“ _From_ you?”

“Yes! _From_ me! Please,” now he threw back the last of his own drink. Molly’s eyes widened, but he wasn’t about to stop. This was it. It was finally happening. “Just tell me,” he spat, bitter words mingling with the taste of his ale. “Because I’m _tired_ , Mum. Tired of the passing comments at Christmas about how you can’t wait to knit jumpers for new additions to the family. Tired of being questioned incessantly in the weeks leading up to Christmas about having a plus one. Tired of the outright jabs every time you’ve had a few about how my younger siblings are married with kids and I’m single. You need to understand that you are getting none that from me. _None of it._ Just…” he took an unexpectedly shaky breath. “Stop. Please.”

Long before he finished talking, Charlie had looked away from his mother. It was easier to be brutally honest when she wasn’t staring him down, and he needed to say this. He had needed it for a long time. He steeled himself to look her in the eye again, but before he could she spoke.

_"Is that what you think?"_

Charlie’s attention snapped back into place when she breathed those words. He had expected her to be angry or disappointed, passive aggressive or dismissive. Maybe shocked. Absolute devastation had not been on the list, and to see it on her face completely disarmed him. He watched her reach for his hand and cradle it in both of hers, so gently that he wasn’t sure if she thought he might break or if it was the other way around.

“Do you really believe I just want what you can give me? Charlie, I… _I’m sorry_. That isn’t–I never–” She began to tear up, and Charlie’s stunned silence turned to panic.

“Mum, no. I know, it’s alright!”

“No, no. _No._ Please listen,” her grip tightened, and he saw that fire he had known for his entire thirty years of life in her eyes.

“All I wanted, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. I just want you happy,” she said. “And if that isn’t with a partner or with children that’s okay, it’s just. Just something I’ve never considered.”

Molly had been staring at their clasped hands but looked up when her son started laughing.

“Mum… I’m already happy. So happy. Are you really surprised?” He asked. “I’ve loved dragons all my life. I’d read every book on them in the school library before my third year. I studied hardest for the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s I needed to become a dragonologist. And when I got that owl from Romania two months before graduation, it was the best day of my life! Now I’m working with some of the most brilliant dragonologists alive, living at a dragon sanctuary, bringing species back from the brink of extinction, and learning more about them and myself every single day! This life I’ve built, it’s fantastic! Truly, it’s…”

“It’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of,” his mother finished the thought.

“Yes!” Charlie beamed. Molly pulled him into a tight hug.

“Then it’s everything I’ve dreamed of too,” she said.


End file.
